Nude sketches of the figure of King Sigismund I and Hetman Tarnowski in the painting ‘The Upbringing of Sigismund Augustus’ 1861

Curator: Before us is Jozef Simmler’s “Nude sketches of the figure of King Sigismund I and Hetman Tarnowski in the painting ‘The Upbringing of Sigismund Augustus’,” rendered in pencil in 1861. It is preparatory work, revealing Simmler's process. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by the starkness. The light pencil work, combined with the unclothed figures, creates a rather vulnerable, almost unsettling atmosphere. The composition seems tentative. Curator: Indeed. These are quick sketches, intended for Simmler's larger painting. Note how he renders King Sigismund, even in this nude study, with a distinctive stance; a sort of regal bearing suggested. Do you think he is attempting to convey Sigismund's authority? Editor: Undoubtedly. Although sketchy, we can see the attention to musculature and the attempted classicizing of the figures, a semiotic attempt to align them with idealized forms of power. But consider the expressive potential within its incompleteness—what’s included, excluded. Curator: Exactly! It speaks to the nature of power itself—both revealed and concealed. The nudity, unconventional for portraying royalty, forces us to see them as simply human, susceptible and exposed, beneath the regalia of the crown. Editor: Which, perhaps, complicates or even subverts any attempt at absolute authority. Their fallibility humanizes the King. Look at the sketch’s lines and shading indicating volume. The quick movements imply searching and decision-making at work. Curator: The bearded figure of Tarnowski, seemingly gesturing outward, emphasizes the relationship with the public, as opposed to the monarch, representing law, which is communicated and negotiated, versus authority decreed. This embodies Poland’s own symbolic past. Editor: And, from a purely formal perspective, the way Simmler uses the negative space around them gives the figures weight and isolates them, commanding a level of presence that contrasts beautifully with the delicacy of the line work. Curator: Fascinating how preliminary sketches can carry such potency, distilling complex socio-political meanings down to the essential human form. Simmler helps us connect with our understanding of legacy through line, form and figure. Editor: The unfinished aspect adds an immediacy. We feel like we're glimpsing Simmler’s thought process, a moment in his search for a composition, and in so doing are drawn closer to an older perception of symbols and of people.